Vehicle-body.



No. 630,724. Patented Aug. s, i899. F. MENzER.

VEHICLE BODY.

(Application filed Apr. 29, 1899.

(No Model.)

TH: norms PETERS 00,. momumo.. wAsHmcroN, D. c.

UNITED i STATES FREDERICK MENZER,

PATENT OFFICE.

or ELINT, MICHIGAN.

VEHICLE-BODY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,724, dated August 8, 1899.

Application filed April 29, 1899. Serial No; 714,981. (No model.)

T0 all whom/ t may concern/ Be it known that I, FREDERICK MENZER, of Flint, in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented a new-and Improved Vehicle-Body, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicle-bodies, such as buggies, sleighs, and cutters; and the object is to provide a body so arranged that it maybe easily and quickly changed from a single to a double seated vehicle or from a double to a single seat, and, further, to provide a cover to be placed on the body when a single seat is used, the said cover serving to prevent a backward sliding of the seat and also preventing the entrance of mud or dirt rearward of the seat.

I will describe a vehicle-body embodying my invention and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a perspective view of a vehiclebody embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation thereof and showing the body with the two seats as in use. Fig. 3 is a similar section, but showing a single seat as in use; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a'body-cover employed.

The vehicle-body is of box-like construction, having side pieces 1 and a rear end piece 2. Secured to the inner sides of the side pieces 1 are guide-strips 3, on which a seat 4 is mount-v ed to slide.

Hinged to a cross-bar 5 in the vehicle-body is asupplementa'ry seat 6, and also hinged to this cross-bar 5 or to the standard at the ends thereof is a back 7 for the seat 6. A brace S has the lower ends of its legs pivoted to the bottom of the vehicle-body, and the cross-bar portion 4of'this brace is designed to engage in a slot or recess 9 formed in the bottom of the seat 6 for the purpose of holding said seat 6 in position when used as a seat. When a single-seated vehicle is desired, the brace,y 8 is moved down to the bottom of the vehicle, so that the seat 6 may swing downward and form a drop for the seat 4 when said seat 4 is moved to its forward position, and at this time the back 7 will be swung downward into the body underneath the seat 4.

Supporting-pins 10 are connected to the `bottom 11of the vehicle-body and are designed to receive and support the back 7 somewhat above the bottom 11 of the vehiclebody. Attached to the front and ends of the seat 6 is a curtain 12 of any suitable flexible material. This curtain is designed to hide the opening between the seat 6 and the bottom of the vehicle and when said'seat 6 is in its seating position. The curtain 12 in its front portion has a- V-shaped opening 13, which permits the curtain to be snugly folded when the seat 6 is in its lower position.

When the seat 4 is in its forward position to provide a single-seated vehicle, the portion of the body rearward of said seat is to be covered by means of a cover, here shown as consisting of two sections 14 15, which are arranged together, so that the cover may be folded and placed in the bottom of the vehiclebody when not in use. The sides and' rear end of the cover are rabbeted, so as to engage over the tops of the side pieces 1 and the end piece 2 and also against the inner surfaces of said pieces. By this construction the cover will be prevented from moving laterally or rearward. Vhen in position, the cover is to be locked in place by any suitable means. I have here shown a button or latch 16 pivoted to one section of the cover and adapted to engage in a recess formed in the end piece 2, and extended from this latch orA button and through the cover is a finger-piece 17. The

forward end of the cover is beveled upward and rearward, so as to engage against the corresponding bevel of the back portion of the seat 4, thus preventing an upward movement of the forward end of the cover.

When a two-seated vehicle is desired, the Yseat4 is to be slid back, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and of course at this timethe cover, consisting of the folding sections, to be placed in the bottom of the vehicle. The seat 6 is v then to be raised to its horizontal position and supported by its brace, and at the time of raising the said seat 6 the back 7 is to bemoved upward, so that a hook 18 on the back will engage in a recess 19 formed in the bottom of the seat 6 near its rear edge.

IOO

Having thus fully described my invention, I Claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Avehiole-body, a main seat movable longitudinall)T thereof, and a oover designed to be placed on the vehicle-body rearward of the seat, the said cover consisting of fiat sections hinged together so as to fold closely together, substantially as specified.

2. A vehicle-body, a seat mounted to slide on the side pieces of the body, a @over oonsisting of two hinged sections and havingits sides and rear end adapted for engagement upon the top of the side pieces of the body and upon the top of the rear end piece of the body, and also for engaging against the inner sides ot' the side pieces and end piece, and

FREDERICK MENZER.

XVitneSSeS:

COLONEL O. SWAYZE, Moon KURTZ. 

